Floor-retainer for concrete foundations.



JESSE PRESCOTT, OF WEBSTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLOOR-RETAINER FOR CONCRETE FOUNDATIONS.

li c. 797.017.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1905.

Application filed February 25, 1905. Serial No. 247,300.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JESSE PRESCOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Webster, in the county of I/Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Floor-Retainers for Concrete Foundations, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In laying iioors on concrete or similar foundations it is desirable that the floor-nails shall not be driven directly into the concrete, mortar, or other friable foundation, and accordingly it is the custom to embed in the latter when it is laid small wooden blocks or pins or metallic retainers for receiving the nails; and my present invention relates to the latter class of such devices, being an improvement on that form of device shown in the patent of W. H. Barnes, No. 590,953, dated October 5, 1897.

My retainer consists of a broad flat pocket of sheet-steel, whose sides are interlocked or clamped tightly together along their opposite longitudinal edges and provided with means, such as corrugations, by which I include any kind of projection,) for interlocking with the cement or concrete when the floor-foundation is laid. For the tightest gripping action I use two plates, these plates receiving the nail between them and clamping frictionally against the same with such firmness and rigidity as to hold the nail and floor in immovable position, as desired.

Further advantages of my invention and the constructional details thereof will be pointed out in the course of the following description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and the invention will be further defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which l have shown several embodiments of my invention, Figures l and 4 are views in side elevation of two preferable constructions. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view on the line 2 2 of the above figures. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on the line 3 3, Fig. l. Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views similar to Fig. 2, showing modified constructions. Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the manner of use of my improved floor-retainer.

One of the principal objects of my present invention is to provide aclip or retainer which will grip the nail tenaciously and hold the same at any and all points to whatever extent the nail may be driven thereinto. To this end instead of making the device narrow and curved about in elliptical form, as shown in the aforesaid patent, I make the opposite sides t wide and substantially flat and pinched fiat against each other at their opposite edges, where they are preferably reinforced by an embracing edge or by a separate clamp, and in the still further development of my invention I provide two distinct plates of a very stiff and yet yielding metal, such as Sheet-steel, so that they can be brought directly together face to face more intimately than if formed in one piece, and I clamp their opposite longitudinal edges unyieldingly together by suitable means, as by'a plurality of short clips c or opposite long clips (Z, four of the former being shown in Fig. l and two of the latter in Fig. 4e. By this means the sides a whether formed integrally or as two separate plates, grip tenaciously against the nail, and,although when the nail is driven forcibly between said sides the latter are necessarily separated midway of their width sufiiciently to receive the nail, yet as there is considerable distance from the nail lto the opposite edges, which are clamped unyieldingly fiat against each other, the pinching strain or spring-pressure of the Sides against the nail becomes very great and bites into or against the nail solirnily that the nail is held immovably against ordinary pressures or pulls or deflections.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown the plates as clamped unyieldingly by having their edges interlocked instead of provided with independent clips c or d, Fig. 5 showing the plate 5 as provided at its opposite edges with overturned lips e, which are clamped down tightly against the longitudinal edges of the plate a. In Fig. 6 the plate a is provided atone edge with an overturned lipf, embracing the longitudinal edge of the plate Z), and the opposite edge of the plate is overturned to embrace the adjacent edge of the plate a, as indicated at g, said two edges f g being clamped down tightly, the same as the independent clips c and CZ.

The Lipper end of the retainer is provided with flaring' lips a Z/, as in the aforesaid patent. At its opposite end I provide substantially perpendicular iianges t2 2, adapted to engage the bricks or other materials between which the retainer may be placed and serving to give special resistance against movement.

It is desirable that the external surface and also preferably the internal surface of said plates shall be irregular, so as to interlock with the concrete when embedded therein, and accordingly'I provide a series of corrugations or protuberances t, which may eX- tend straight across the plate or be formed in any other pattern or manner adapted to the purpose. v

In Fig. 7 l have illustrated the manner of use, one of my retainers being shown as embedded in concrete C. When a floor is to be laid, the flooring F is nailed down by usual nails a, which are driven into the retainer be tween the sides a and to the exact distance, necessarily being clamped thereby immovably and tenaciously the same as if driven into a timber or other usual holding substance. The gripping qualities of my retainer as constructed with its wide iiat sides clamped at their opposite edges are entirely suiicient to retain the nail without any roughened surface or special shape of nail, and accordingly a smooth nail can be used and can therefore be Aretained when driven any distance whatever,

whereas the construction shown in the aforesaid patent limits the nail to a position in which the corrugations of the nail and of the tube coincide.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to any particular place of use, but is capable of being used wherever it is desired to drive retaining nails or fasteners into mortar, concrete, cement, or other usual brick, tile, and stone constructions, whether floors, walls, ceilings, or otherwise. 1

While I have shown my invention as embodied in several different forms, I wish it understood that I am not limited thereto, as many other modifications in form and combination of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andv scope. of my invention.

Having described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A device of the kind described, having its l, l ni l opposite sides substantially flat and in direct contact adjacent the opposite longitudinal edges of said device.

2. Adevice of thekinddescribed, havingopposite stiffiyyielding plane sides normally substantially flat against each other but capable of yielding to and clamping a nail driven between them, the inner faces of said sides being pinched fiat against each other adjacent the longitudinal edges of said device.

3. Adevi'ce of' thekind described, having opposite stii'ly-yielding sides normally substantially plane but capable of' yielding to and clamping a nail driven between them, said sides containing at one end means for giving entrance to a nail, and containing, back from said end, outwardly projecting reinforceflanges.

4. A device of the kind described, comprising opposite independent approximately fiat plates tightly clamped together at their opposite longitudinal edges and shaped at one end to receive a nail, said plates yieldingly clamping said nail immovably between them when driven between them.

5. A device of the kind described, comprising independent plates, retained together at their opposite longitudinal edges, flaring apart slightly at one end, and having a series of projecting' side portions for interlocking with concrete or the like when embedded therein.

6. A device of the kind described, comprising a flattened tubular nail-clamping pocket, whose sides are normally substantially together, provided at its outer end with flaring lips, and having at its inner end substantial perpendicular flanges.

In testimony whereofI have signed my n-ame to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JESSE PRESCOTT.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL, M. A. JoNns. 

